Well I spent the week in a basic law enforcement sniper class. It was a lot of fun and I gained a lot of experience, as well as got a lot of experience in shooting in different weather conditions! We hit the range Tuesday and it got up to about 35 degrees with wind and freezing rain. Had pretty good weather Wednesday and Thursday, except Thursday we got some real wind experience with it averaging between 5-10 and up to 25mph gusts! Friday we got rain, along with some thunder and lighting. Overall we got the whole gambit of weather in a week in Kansas!
Anyhow I was shooting a Tac Ops X-Ray 51 topped with a S&B PMii 5.25x56 P4L reticle. About as good as you can get for a rifle, aside from being pretty heavy. The combination is definitely way better than the shooter! I ran Remington Premier Match 168gr ammo, since that's what my department gave me to take. I have no idea of the actual MV of this ammo in this rifle, but I put the 2680fps that Remington lists on their website in the ballistics program and it was fairly close. I actually seemed to use less MOA than was predicted in almost every distant we shot. We shot out to 600yds and that was a real eye opener for me, as I'd never really shot anything "precision" past about 250-300yds. Most of the time I suffered from HUA, but managed to pull out a 3 3/8" group at 500yds and a 15/16" group at 300yds. I had a group going at 400yds that was less than an inch in the first 3 shots, right in the "T" as well, but apparently I hurt myself while I was patting myself on the back and I shanked the last 2 shots, which resulted in a 5 shot group that was about 1moa. I didn't take the time to measure it because I was so irritated with myself about it! The 600yd stuff did ok, but the wind really affected me and most everybody else! I was also able to hit a 1/4" dot, granted at 100yds, but I was very happy with that indeed. It was 1 out of 4 attempts at it, but I got it none the less and the other 3 weren't away by very much at all. In fact if I had shot from the beginning like I did the last day, I'd have been a very happy camper!
All in all it was a real learning experience and, like I stated earlier, an eye opening experience. I always thought I was a solid shooter. Not the best or even good, but solid none the less. Then I did this and my confidence is a little shaken, but improved at the same time. I've spend a lot of time reading about long range shooting and all that goes with it. I did have a leg up over most with doping the wind, ranging, making elevation adjustments, bullet BC and drop, etc. I know for sure my fundamentals need practiced and polished now! I could also use some physical conditioning to help to improve my posture, strength, and stamina overall. I had about the best equipment there, definitely did in the rifle/optic category, but did not shoot the best out of all the shooters, which to me goes to show that the most important factor is the operator of the weapon system and not the gear itself. While the gear is important too! I also learned that I want to get much better at this and of course have to for the role it could place me in! I think it has driven me to want to do some competing in some lower level long range shooting matches, just for the experience of getting to shoot distance and gain experience with wind estimation/adjustments, etc.
My biggest question to you guys is this, what is the right approach to gaining more knowledge on the subject? Is it a sound practice to simply read/study the subject and practice regularly, or will the competition side of it gain me anything in the end? I will have to drive at least 2hrs anytime I want to participate in any competitions. I have access to a range, belongs to a friend on private land, that we can get 600yds plus on. In some of my readings here and other places, I've read that it's not really a sound practice to just go shoot by yourself, as you could be short changing yourself and not doing things right or just going through the motions. When I train/practice, I have to log all the info and the targets for documentation in case a need arises later for a legal issue or something. So in my case, I don't know that it would be a matter of short changing yourself in quality training/practice, but I want to get experience in all weather conditions and as far back as I can, however, I don't want to, and I'm sure my department doesn't want me to either, be blowing up match grade ammo and not gaining anything from it!
Thanks,
Jason
Anyhow I was shooting a Tac Ops X-Ray 51 topped with a S&B PMii 5.25x56 P4L reticle. About as good as you can get for a rifle, aside from being pretty heavy. The combination is definitely way better than the shooter! I ran Remington Premier Match 168gr ammo, since that's what my department gave me to take. I have no idea of the actual MV of this ammo in this rifle, but I put the 2680fps that Remington lists on their website in the ballistics program and it was fairly close. I actually seemed to use less MOA than was predicted in almost every distant we shot. We shot out to 600yds and that was a real eye opener for me, as I'd never really shot anything "precision" past about 250-300yds. Most of the time I suffered from HUA, but managed to pull out a 3 3/8" group at 500yds and a 15/16" group at 300yds. I had a group going at 400yds that was less than an inch in the first 3 shots, right in the "T" as well, but apparently I hurt myself while I was patting myself on the back and I shanked the last 2 shots, which resulted in a 5 shot group that was about 1moa. I didn't take the time to measure it because I was so irritated with myself about it! The 600yd stuff did ok, but the wind really affected me and most everybody else! I was also able to hit a 1/4" dot, granted at 100yds, but I was very happy with that indeed. It was 1 out of 4 attempts at it, but I got it none the less and the other 3 weren't away by very much at all. In fact if I had shot from the beginning like I did the last day, I'd have been a very happy camper!
All in all it was a real learning experience and, like I stated earlier, an eye opening experience. I always thought I was a solid shooter. Not the best or even good, but solid none the less. Then I did this and my confidence is a little shaken, but improved at the same time. I've spend a lot of time reading about long range shooting and all that goes with it. I did have a leg up over most with doping the wind, ranging, making elevation adjustments, bullet BC and drop, etc. I know for sure my fundamentals need practiced and polished now! I could also use some physical conditioning to help to improve my posture, strength, and stamina overall. I had about the best equipment there, definitely did in the rifle/optic category, but did not shoot the best out of all the shooters, which to me goes to show that the most important factor is the operator of the weapon system and not the gear itself. While the gear is important too! I also learned that I want to get much better at this and of course have to for the role it could place me in! I think it has driven me to want to do some competing in some lower level long range shooting matches, just for the experience of getting to shoot distance and gain experience with wind estimation/adjustments, etc.
My biggest question to you guys is this, what is the right approach to gaining more knowledge on the subject? Is it a sound practice to simply read/study the subject and practice regularly, or will the competition side of it gain me anything in the end? I will have to drive at least 2hrs anytime I want to participate in any competitions. I have access to a range, belongs to a friend on private land, that we can get 600yds plus on. In some of my readings here and other places, I've read that it's not really a sound practice to just go shoot by yourself, as you could be short changing yourself and not doing things right or just going through the motions. When I train/practice, I have to log all the info and the targets for documentation in case a need arises later for a legal issue or something. So in my case, I don't know that it would be a matter of short changing yourself in quality training/practice, but I want to get experience in all weather conditions and as far back as I can, however, I don't want to, and I'm sure my department doesn't want me to either, be blowing up match grade ammo and not gaining anything from it!
Thanks,
Jason
